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Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango, and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the Journey family. Welcome to day 316. We are diving into job chapters 15, 16, and 17. Now, if you've been tracking with us for the last couple of days, you'll realize that we are now in the second cycle of dialogues between Job and his friends. Cycle one is over. Okay. Cycle one of the dialogues were Job chapters four, four to 14. So Job chapters four to 14 is cycle one. What is the cycle? Well, it's Eliphaz talks, then Job, then Bildad, then Job, then Zophar, then Job. Okay, so friend one, then Job responds. Friend two, then Job responds, Friend three, then Job responds, that's a full cycle. And we just wrapped up a full cycle from chapter four to chapter 14. Okay, now we are in cycle number two. And what's going to happen? Eliphaz is going to talk, then Job's going to respond. Bildad's going to talk, then Job's going to respond. Zophar is going to talk, then Job is going to respond. And this is going to go from chapter 15, which we're starting today, all the way to chapter 21. And then there's going to be a third cycle of dialogues. Okay, so. So third cycle of dialogue is. We got a little curveball in there, but we'll tackle that when we get there in a couple days. But today's reading, Job chapter 15 to Job, chapter 17, fits within a larger framework of this entire cycle of dialogues. Okay. And so I just want to orient us. So that's actually our context clue for the day. Okay. Our only context clue for for today is that what we are about to study today in job chapters 15, 17 is just going to be Eliphaz talking and Job responding. And then the next day, we'll look at Bildad talking and Job responding. Then the next day after that, we'll probably look at Zophar talking and Job responding. We have tried to break down the days based on how the dialogues actually work. All right, so if you have done the reading, obviously stick around because we're about to dive into the content. But if you have not done the reading, this is my daily reminder to stop the video, pause the audio, and go get the reading done. Okay. Hopefully the context clue for today just kind of orients you to what? It's a lot of talking. It's a lot of Job talking to his friends who he's very, very frustrated with. So job, chapter 15 is going to be Eliphaz talking. Okay? So there's a heading, and just like the Book of Psalms, the headings that are here are really, really helpful. So chapter 15 just says Eliphaz, okay? And then it says these words. Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied, would a wise person answer with empty notions or fill their belly with hot east wind? Okay, so actually, what Eliphaz is arguing is you're talking so much because you're guilty. That's Eliphaz's argument. Eh, I don't know, man. In my experience, when people talk this much to defend themselves, they're guilty. An innocent person would just be silent. So it says this in verse 5, chapter 15, verse 5. Your sin prompts your mouth. You adopt the tongue of the crafty. Okay, remember how was the serpent described in Genesis chapter three as more crafty? So Eliphaz is saying, I don't know, man. You're talking too much for me. You're trying to talk your way out of this. You're yapping. My wife is actually famous for saying the same thing. Eliphaz says. My wife will say, like, yeah, this is nervous chatter. You're given. It's given. Guilty is what my wife, Tia would say. And here's the interesting thing about Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. If you don't know that these guys are wrong, what they have to say sounds so brilliant. Seriously, like when you. When you just get into what they're saying. So I'll start reading. Chapter 15, verse 14 says this. What are mortals that. That they could be pure or those born of woman, that they could be righteous? Like, dude, that sounds like Paul. That sounds like Romans. He's saying, dude, there are no. There's nobody. Nobody who's righteous like Job. Come on, cut the act, dude. Like, aren't you born of a woman? Aren't you immortal? You're not pure. You're not righteous. Verse 15. If God places no trust in his holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes, how much less Mortals who are vile, incorrupt, who drink up evil like water. Like, if you take this out of the context of the fact that Job's actually innocent, you just, like, put this verse, like, on a graphic. Everyone would say, yeah, that's true. Yeah, if God places no Trust in his angels. Like, there are angels that have rebelled against God. He. He doesn't even trust the angels. If even the heavens are not pure in his eyes, how much less mortals who are vile and corrupt, who drink the evil, who drink up evil like water. So you may find yourself, like, if you really dig into the text, you may find yourself agreeing with these guys. I know. I. I have on multiple occasions, not just today, but there have been multiple times where I'm like, hey, they got a good point. Okay? You know, you can't just read with the understanding that, like, oh, yeah, Job's right. No, you gotta, like, actually engage. Like, get lost in the story. Because these guys aren't, like, nuts. These are wise sages of the age. Like, the reason this is wisdom literature is because Job is having a wisdom debate with three wise people. He's not talking to idiots. These friends are not fools. They're incorrect. But that's like the whole point of the story of Job, that even wise people aren't omniscient. Only God is omniscient. So the big debate in the book is around whether or not God is just. And moreover, what is justice? And does God rule the cosmos with said justice? And wisdom is begging us to, like, it's showing us four wise people who are all talking to each other, and we're still at something's missing. Something's missing. So, all right, if you just write everything that Job's friends say off as just, like, cuckoo bananas and, like, stupid, then you're not actually going to get a lot out of the book of Job. Okay? Now chapter 16, job starts talking. Oh, by the way, I didn't necessarily announce our nerdy nuggets for the day, but we've been in our nerdy nuggets for a while. Okay, keep up. Just joking, family. The wait is over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos, is out now and available everywhere. Books are sold. Literally. Today I walked into a Barnes and Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location. So you can grab this book at a physical Barnes and Noble, or you can go to a Books a Million or Amazon or anywhere books are sold and grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the Bible from an ancient perspective, if you understand that the beauty of scripture is actually knowing it in context, then you'll love this book. And if there's any chaos in your personal life, I think that reading the Bible from an ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life. I think this book is going to be a New York Times bestseller. I really do. I think we wrote a good one. I think you should get a copy today. All right, back to the episode. That was my bad. I did not. I did not actually transition us from context clues to nerdy nuggets. That's on me. Chapter 16. Then Job replied, I have heard many things like these. Here we go. You are miserable comforters. All of you. Like, you're. You don't understand the assignment. You're terrible comforters. We're gonna come back to that idea in our Thomas Truth, okay? Cause I actually think one of the things that this book of wisdom is trying to help us to do is not just to, like, get answers, but to actually be people who know how to comfort people who are in pain. It says this, verse 4. I could make fine speeches against you and shake my head at you, but my mouth would encourage you. Comfort from my lips would bring you relief. Like, I wouldn't do this to you. This is not how I would treat you if the tables were turned. And then I would say that we get a turn. But before we get to that turn, let me just kind of frame chapter 16 and 17 for us. Okay? And. And we'll get back to the comfort piece for our timeless truth. But let's frame up chapter 16 and 17. I could summarize Job's response to Eliphaz with. With these three things. Okay, Job makes three requests. Okay, Job is going to make three requests. Number one, what we're going to see in Job, chapter 16, verses one to 14, is a plea to his friends for empathy and sympathy. Okay, guys, enough with, like, the advice, with the answers, with the solutions. Could you just empathize with me? Could you sympathize with me? Could you be present? Can you encourage me? Could you comfort me? I don't need your opinions. I don't need your answers. I don't need your solutions. I just need you to be there to comfort me. That's all I need. Okay, so That's Job, chapter 16, verses 1 to 14. It's a plea to his friends for empathy, sympathy, and comfort. Okay? Then second, there's a plea to God for justice. He's crying out to God for justice. This is job. Chapter 16, verses 15 through 22. And then third, there's going to be a plea to God for death. This is Job, chapter 17, verses 1 through 16. Job wants to die. By the time we get to chapter 17, it's going to say this, okay? Only a few years will pass before I take the path of no return. My spirit is broken. My days are cut short. The grave awaits me. He's actually going to beg to God, like, hey, like, let's just end it. Like, put me out of my misery, okay? And so if you think the Bible is silent around suicide, euthanasia, like topics where people genuinely would prefer death, then the hardship and the suffering and the difficulty of life. Who. You haven't read the book of Job yet, okay? And he's lost everything. Multiple children have died. He's lost all of his wealth, all of his possessions, his health. And now he's got these friends who just want to turn his suffering into a philosophical debate. And this helps us to realize man, for the. For the Hebrew wisdom is not found up here like Greek philosophy. It's found in the ability to enter into the dirt and to be a source of comfort for another person. Very, very, very practical. All right, Three big requests that Job is making. And we could see them all throughout chapter 16 and 17. Okay? Job is going to get pretty prophetic in nature right around chapter 16. Now, I wonder if you notice this. Okay, let's read chapter 16 together. And we're going to start reading in verse 11. Okay? Job, chapter 16, verse 11 says this. God has turned me over to the ungodly and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked. All was well with me, but he shattered me. He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has made me his target. His archers surround me without pity. He pierces my kidneys and spills my gall on the ground. Again and again he bursts upon me. He rushes at me like a warrior man. Can you hear that on the lips of Jesus, like on the cross. God has turned me over to the ungodly and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked. Like the Roman. The Roman soldiers, the Gentiles. All was well with me, but he shattered me. He seized me by the neck and crushed He. He has made me his target. Now, if we apply these words to Jesus, like, pinpoint accuracy, but when we apply them to Job, Job's wrong. God has not done this. And that's what Job doesn't know. This has been an attack of the Satan, not an attack from God. And this is an issue that probably many of us find ourselves in where we think that hardship, suffering, trial, tribulation, persecution is like from God. And God is 100% at. There's another active agent with a will out here in the world, and his name is the Satan. His name is ha. Satan. All right, one. One other little nugget that I think could be applied to Jesus is chapter 17, verse 6. Says, God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose faith face people sm that right there, I could 100% see that being applied to the person of Jesus. So Job has this prophetic nature to it, okay? And then last, Job is no longer asking for an intercessory or someone to intercede on his behalf. He's essentially saying, I'd love for me and God to go to court. There's a massive metaphor, by the way, for the whole book, this courtroom metaphor that God is a judge, that the Satan is a prosecutor. And essentially Job is like a defense attorney. Would be fantastic man. And so I want us to listen to Job. 16:18-21 says, this earth, do not cover my blood. May my cry never be laid to rest, okay? He's saying, even if I died, just like the blood of Abel cried out from the earth, like, I would want my innocent blood, my blood would be innocent just like Abel. So I would want it to cry out, okay? So, earth, do not cover my blood, May my cry never be laid to rest, okay? If Abel deserves to cry out to God from. From the ground, if his blood deserves to cry out, then mine would too, because I'm innocent just like Abel. You may not have made that connection on your own even now. My witness is in heaven. Huh? What witness does Job have in heaven? Really? The question is, how does Job know about Jesus? Because Job's right. He does have a witness in heaven. Let's keep reading. My advocate is on high. Oh, yes, you do have an advocate. Job. My intercessor is my friend. As my eyes pour out, remember, he's responding to his actual friends by saying, I've got a friend who's in heaven. He's not here on earth. As my eyes pour out tears to God on behalf of a man, he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend. So he's describing Jesus like. Like Job is literally describing what the New Testament is going to say is Jesus the intercessor. Like, and so there's this, like, really oddly prophetic nature in Job that I just don't think is taught a lot. Or, like, even, like, I was. I read through this commentary on Job. Not a lot in there about just, like, the prophetic nature of these passages that I found in Job. And those are my nerdy nuggets for the day. All right, let's come back to Job realizing that if his friends were in his same position, he would be a good comforter for them. It says this verse four of chapter 16. I could make fine speeches against you and shake my head at you, but my mouth would encourage you. Comfort from my lips would bring you relief. It's hard becoming the kind of person that can comfort other people. Becoming the kind of person that can comfort other people requires that you have received comfort from God. Which means that at some point, life crushed you. And that's our timeless truth for the day, that in order to be the kind of person that brings comfort to others, you would have had to have gone through something really hard in life. A Job like experience. So Job is saying that he'd be able to comfort them to. But actually, the thing that's allowing Job to be that is what Job is going through. It's funny how, because these friends have never gone through anything like what Job is going through, they're not really a source of comfort. I've got a couple of quotes from this commentary. And by the way, I love Warren W. Weirsby's commentary series. It's right back there. Love it. You could probably see the volume on Job is missing in the set. And there's a couple things that I read in here. This is page 36 on the set that includes Job. It says this. There is true consolation in our faith, but it is not dispensed in convenient doses like cough medicine. It can be shared only by those who know what it's like to be so far down in the pit that they feel as though God has abandoned them. Then if you want to be a true comforter, there is a price to pay, and not everybody is willing to pay it. Paul wrote about this in 2 Corinthians, chapter 1, verses 3 to 11. John Henry Jowett said, God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters. God's comfort is never given, it is always loaned. God expects us to share it with others. In his book about his wife's death, a grief observed, C.S. lewis wrote from his own painful experience. Talk to me about the truth of religion, and I'll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I'll listen submissively. But don't come talking to me about the consolation of religion, or I shall suspect you. You don't understand. Essentially, C.S. lewis is saying, don't talk to me unless you have been through something that qualifies you to actually be someone who's a source of comfort. And Job has just gone through something. And what he's thinking to himself is, if the tables were turned, I wouldn't do what my friends are doing to me. I want to end today with a poem that my college professor used to quote often and I thought about it today as I was reading through Job chapters job chapters 15, 16 and 17 and just want to read it to you as we end our time together today. When God wants to drill a man and thrill a man and skill a man When God wants to mold a man to play the noblest part when he yearns with all his heart to create so great and bold a man that all the world shall be amazed. Watch his methods, watch his ways, how he ruthlessly perfects whom he royally elects, how he hammers him and hurts him, and with mighty blows converts him into trial shapes of clay which only God understands While his tortured heart is crying and he lifts beseeching hands, how he bends but never breaks when his good he undertakes, how he uses whom he chooses and with every purpose fuses him, but every act induces him to try his splendor out. God knows what he's about. Author unknown and I could go into a whole nerdy deep dive on who the author could be. But that first part Man. When God wants to drill a man and thrill a man and skill a man. When God wants to mold a man to play the noblest part, when he yearns with all his heart to create so great and bold a man that all the world shall be amazed. Watch his methods, watch his ways, how he ruthlessly perfects whom he royally elects, how he hammers him and hurts him and with mighty blows converts him into trial shapes of clay which only God understands. So I think that Job, in the worst season of his life, prophesies about Jesus and is converted into the kind of person who would be able to comfort those friends if those friends ever experienced the pain that Job went through. But without the pain that Job went through, I think he would probably do exactly what his friends are doing to him. So my prayer for you and for me is that we would be the the kind of people who know how to comfort others. When me and my wife went through a miscarriage after getting miraculously pregnant after years of infertility, our pastor's wife called me and said, manny, you're such a good preacher, but this pain is going to help you to become a great pastor, a good priest, a good shepherd, somebody who knows how to walk with people through pain. And man, it sucked to hear that. Back in 2021. I didn't want to hear that, but her words were true. And I hope that those words are true for you today because that is timelessly true. That's not just true for Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar and Job. That's true for you. That's true for me. Tomorrow we've got day three, 17. We're going to be looking at job. Chapters 18 and 19. Can't wait. Same time, same place. I'll be right here. The only question is, will you be? If you're on a streak, I'm proud of you. You. Even if you're not. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show@thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram hebibledepartment. If you enjoyed this episode and wanna dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses at the Bible Department. We'll see you back here tomorrow.